The plans and advantages of nuclear power seemed to leave the thinly attended session unconvinced of the benefits.
Delegates expressed concern for the disposal of nuclear waste from reactors should the nuclear program come online.
Deputy Director and Head of the Department for Nuclear Energy of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Alexander Bychkov opened the session by outlining the regulatory framework and administration structure that the body offered developing nuclear nations.
He suggested that the energy demands of the world would lead to increasing use of nuclear power and that already 13 percent of the world’s energy came from that source. It provided energy security, insurance against oil price volatility and addressed environmental protection concerns, he claimed.
“More than 60 countries are in the process or are considering going nuclear,” he said, adding that nuclear energy was essentially safe despite the three best known accidents, including Three Mile Island, Chernobyl and the recent major accident at Japan’s Fukushima facility. To support his contention of rising power demand, Bychkov said that half the 30 countries planning nuclear power already had grids of over 5GWe or more.
Professor Habib Abualhamayel, director of the Center of Research Excellence in Renewable Energy, reviewed the work of his department.
He said he was focusing on the development of solar panels for use with air conditioning, the largest consumer of energy in the country, and storage of generated power. He added that funds should be channeled into the development of solar energy.
Raik Jaris, CEO of Oxford Knowledge Consultants and Alphameta Ltd., pointed out that even after the three best known nuclear accidents, 61 percent of respondents in a recent survey thought that nuclear power was the way forward.
He pointed out that power generation was only part of the equation, and that energy saving was also a major contributor to the better use of energy. He said that if the US electricity distribution grid was just 5 percent more efficient, it would eliminate greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to the output of 53 million cars.
Anticipating future developments in technology, Jaris predicted that in perhaps 40 years nuclear fusion (as opposed to the current process, fission) would provide answers to the disposal of radioactive waste.
Coordinator of Scientific Collaboration at the King Abdullah City for Atomic and Renewable Energy Abdulghani Bin Melaibari averred that the reason the Kingdom pursued a nuclear program was to meet anticipated and current rising demand for power, which he said was increasing at 4.3 percent per annum.
Observations and questions from the floor indicated that the case for developing nuclear power had not been to the satisfaction of delegates and other options, solar and geothermal energy in particular, had much to offer and should be explored first.
